Rio Bravo

642 E. Millsap Road

Fayetteville

Rio Bravo took Fayetteville by storm when it opened last fall, setting the city’s all-time sales record in its first month of operation. Things have calmed down a little since then, but Rio Bravo is still packing them in, and they seem to be coming back.

We got there for lunch on a recent Friday and found only a short wait for a table.

The chips and salsa (which come free as an appetizer) are perhaps the best in town. As far as Mexican restaurants go, we figure that’s half the battle. We can live through an average meal if the chips and salsa are great. But we didn’t find anything average at Rio Bravo.

In addition to chips and salsa, we ordered a bowl of queso cheese dip and tortillas ($4) as an appetizer. Warning: this stuff is addictive.

As with the salsa, we don’t know of any place in the area serving a better cheese dip. The tortillas are made fresh at the restaurant, and the waiter keeps bringing them to the table until the cheese dip is just a few orange streaks left in the bottom of the bowl. Of course, eating too much of this cheese dip can ruin a good meal, but we didn’t let it hold us back.

We had two of the lunch specials. One included a mini chicken burrito and soft chicken taco and the other was a beef taco and cheese enchilada. Each meal is normally $6, but we opted for the optional, chunky fajita meat in both meals, raising the price of each by $1. As far as we’re concerned, it’s well worth the additional investment. The meals were also accompanied by rice.

We know Rio Bravo has excellent desserts, but we were in no mood to try them after gorging on all this other stuff.

We know Rio Bravo is part of a chain, not locally owned or authentic Mexican, but we can’t help loving the place. It’s great for a business lunch if you’re in north Fayetteville or south Springdale. The service is usually good, and we left the place feeling like we should take a siesta (something we don’t tell the boss).